The Rev. Karl Phillippi

10/22/2009

MADISON, CT (10/28/2009) -- The Rev. A. Karl Phillippi, Pastor Emeritus of the Northford Congregational Church UCC and a former Area Minister for the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, died on Oct. 22, 2009, at his home in Madison. He was 93.

Born May 25, 1916, in Angola, Indiana, he was educated at Gettysburg College and Yale Divinity School. He married Vera Foot Barker in 1944, and they had one son, Paul, who died in 1991.

During his seminary education at Yale, he served as student pastor of the Northford church, and was ordained there in 1943. He went on to serve congregations in Brooklyn, New York; the Sauguoit valley in New York; and Mount Vernon, Ohio. He led the First Congregational "Old Stone" Church UCC in East Haven from 1958 until 1966, and then joined the Massachusetts Conference staff. His last call before retirement in 1982 was in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

"Karl Phillippi was a devoted pastoral presence in every setting in which he served," said Conference Minister the Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree. "whether local churches or as a Conference staff member in Massachusetts.

"An outgoing and warm person, Karl cared deeply for each person he encountered and for every church for which he had any responsibility. His sense of humor, his commitment to the church's full inclusion of all people and his love of the United Church of Christ stand out for me as memories of him. We were blessed by his presence and continue to be blessed by his legacy."

In addition to church and family, Rev. Phillippi enjoyed a wide range of activities, including reading, painting, model railroads, sailing, photography, short wave radio, building and flying kites, and weathervanes.

A service in celebration of his life and ministry will be held at 2:00 pm on Friday, October 30, at the Northford Congregational Church UCC. Memorial gifts may be sent to the Northford Congregational Church, PO Box 191, Northford, CT 06472.

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